Gaurav Pratap Singh takes 2 stroke lead

Noida: Local favourite Gaurav Pratap Singh fired his second successive two-under 70 at his home course to grab the second round lead at the ONGC Masters golf tournament here today.

Gaurav now heads into the third round with a two-stroke advantage at four-under 140, followed by Randhir Singh Ghotra, Toran Bikram Shahi and round one leader Arjun Singh Chaudhri who share the second spot at two-under 142. In all, 55 professional made the cut which was set at seven-over 151. One-under at the turn, 25-year-old Gaurav dropped his second bogey of the day on the 10th and signed off in a similar fashion but birdies on the 12th, 14th and 16th meant he still finished at the top. "I`ve been striking the ball really well over last few months but somehow I have not been able to shoot very low numbers. In today`s round, I hit it well once again and also hit it quite close and therefore was rewarded with a good score," said an elated Gaurav, who is currently 35th on the Aircel-PGTI Order of Merit, having posted four top-10s in the current season. Bureau Report